Champions Tour

NEWPORT BEACH - Many on the Champions Tour say they love to play the Toshiba Classic because it's in Newport Beach. They enjoy the shops and restaurants nearby, and most of all they enjoy the sunny weather. The latter doesn't look as if it will hold up this weekend. Some of the biggest names from golf's past will try to get in three rounds in the 18th Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country Club. First-round play begins Friday at 10 a.m. The first tee time has been moved up on Saturday to 8 a.m. because of the threat of heavy rain.

Richard Dunn Andy Bean couldn't wait to turn 50 years old and play golf on the PGA Champions Tour, but the tour made him wait an extra week. He'll make his debut at the Toshiba Senior Classic this weekend at Newport Beach Country Club. Bean, who has been chomping at the bit to play, turned 50 on March 13, a Thursday. If he had turned 50 a day sooner, the tour said, he would've been able to make his first Champions Tour appearance in last week's SBC Classic at Valencia Country Club.

The Champions Tour provides an opportunity for golfers to continue their playing careers past what athletes in football or basketball could dream. The tour, for golfers 50 and over, carries with it a collection of golfing greats who possibly have competed on, among others, the PGA, Nationwide, Asian, European and Nationwide tours at a time in their careers. Players today are faced with decisions about which tournaments and tours to play when they map out the upcoming year’s schedule.

It wasn’t too long ago when golfing legend Tom Watson ripped into Tiger Woods, delivering a message to the now-downtrodden cautionary tale. Of course Watson wants the best for Woods, a part-time Corona del Mar resident. He wants Woods to return to the game. But at a time when Woods is rehabilitating his career because of the fallout from his infidelity, Watson took the opportunity to point out other faults before Woods returns. “I feel he has not carried the same stature that other great players that have come along like Jack (Nicklaus)

Lee Trevino, a World Golf Hall of Famer and one of the most revered personalities in the game, has committed to play in his third consecutive Toshiba Classic, March 1-7 at Newport Beach Country Club. At age 70, Trevino is the oldest player in the Toshiba Classic field. Trevino has won 29 times on the PGA and Champions Tours. He owns six PGA Tour majors with the 1968 and 1971 U.S. Opens, 1971 and 1972 British Opens and 1974 and 1984 PGA Tour Championships. He holds four Champions Tour majors: the 1990 U.S. Senior Open, 1992 and 1994 PGA Seniors’ Championships and the 1992 Tradition.

Champions Tour rookies Fred Couples, Corey Pavin and Paul Azinger have all committed to competing in the Toshiba Classic, scheduled March 1 through 7 at Newport Beach Country Club. The three golfers are expected to split 2010 between the PGA and Champions tours. In 2009, Couples tied for third at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club and the Shell Houston Open. He tied for fifth at the Wyndham Championship. He is a 15-time PGA Tour winner, including the 1992 Masters title.

Corey Pavin, the former UCLA star known for his 1995 U.S. Open victory, will be the featured speaker for the annual Toshiba Classic Breakfast with a Champion presented by The Allergan Foundation March 2 at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa. Pavin, a 15-time PGA Tour winner, will be making his Champions Tour debut this year, but will also play select events on the PGA Tour this season. The 1982 NCAA Player of the Year earned the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Award (leading money winner)

NEWPORT BEACH — First-round leader Bob Tway isn’t the only Champions Tour pro with ties to Rickie Fowler. Olin Browne also knows the PGA Tour’s budding star quite well. Browne’s daughter, Alexandra, is dating Fowler, according to pgatour.com. They met at last year’s Travelers Championship. Browne is one stroke behind the lead and is tied with Fred Couples, Lonnie Nelson and Mike Goodes. Tway shot a six-under-par 65 to share the lead with Mark Wiebe and Chien Soon Lu. Tway’s son, Kevin, plays for Oklahoma State, where he was a roommate of Folwer’s two years ago.  Browne increased his string of holes without a three-putt to 112 on Friday.

NEWPORT BEACH — Ben Crenshaw doesn’t come across as a guy who finished tied for third the past two years at the Toshiba Classic. He can’t even be mistaken for a pro who hast yet to win on the Champions Tour. It’s not that he lacks for passion. It’s just that there is a certain sense of contentment with Crenshaw. At least that’s what was expressed during Crenshaw’s interview with the media at Newport Beach Country Club Wednesday afternoon after playing in a pro-am through light rain.

NEWPORT BEACH - It had been 33 starts that Loren Roberts had gone without a win on the Champions Tour. The 56-year-old who won eight times on the PGA Tour was starting to worry a bit if he could become a champion once again. He studied film to refine his short game last week and came to Newport Beach ready to reacquaint himself with poa annua greens. Twenty-five to 30 mile-per-hour winds brushed through Newport Beach Country Club for the final round of the 18 th Toshiba Classic on Sunday.

NEWPORT BEACH - Mark Calcavecchiasaid he could handle the cold pretty well on Saturday and he was all right with the wind. Throw in rain and the combination was wicked to Calcavecchia, but he still went into the clubhouse on top after the second day at the Toshiba Classic. On the third and final day, the conditions were still windy, just not as cold as the day before at Newport Beach Country Club. The almost sunny skies on Sunday are what got to the former British Open champion.

NEWPORT BEACH - Bobby Clampett had become accustomed to life behind a microphone and in front of the camera. Somewhere amid his broadcasting for CBS, he thought about going back to the game, playing on the Champions Tour when he turned 50. He is now fulfilling a need he had. At the 18th Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, some of his best work was on display Friday. Clampett, 51, who had been away from playing competitive golf for 15 years, shot a six-under-par 65 and is tied for the lead with Olin Browne and Bernhard Langer after the first round at Newport Beach Country Club.

NEWPORT BEACH - Many on the Champions Tour say they love to play the Toshiba Classic because it's in Newport Beach. They enjoy the shops and restaurants nearby, and most of all they enjoy the sunny weather. The latter doesn't look as if it will hold up this weekend. Some of the biggest names from golf's past will try to get in three rounds in the 18th Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country Club. First-round play begins Friday at 10 a.m. The first tee time has been moved up on Saturday to 8 a.m. because of the threat of heavy rain.

Brad Faxon already has one win on the Champions Tour, but you could say he's still finding his way. Faxon, an eight-time PGA Tour winner who turned 50 seven months ago, had a troublesome start to his Toshiba Classic debut Wednesday. He showed up to Newport Beach Golf Course to play in the pro-am. One problem, the Toshiba is at Newport Beach Country Club. Not a big deal. He made it to NBCC for an interview with media and then out for his afternoon of pro-am. No harm. It goes in sync to how Faxon feels on the Champions Tour.

When Nick Price won the Toshiba Classic last year there were two firsts he achieved. Now he's looking to accomplish another first at the 18th annual Toshiba Classic. Price will try to be the tournament's first repeat winner when the first of three rounds begin Friday at Newport Beach Country Club, where the pro-am began Monday. Price, who arrives Wednesday, will gladly take the same first-round score he had in 2011. He shot an 11-under-par 60, a Champions Tour, Toshiba Classic and course record.

It's not how you start but how you finish. That's among the favorite lines for a coach to use. But Nick Price's start proved to be very important last year when he won the 17th Toshiba Classic. He opened the three-day tournament with an 11-under-par 60, which was a course, tournament and Champions Tour record. He ended up needing that score. He prevailed after two rounds of 68 and held off to win by one stroke over Mark Wiebe. Price's hot start was too much for the field at the Toshiba Classic.

Jeff Purser, the executive director of the Toshiba Classic, maintains a busy and hectic life during the tournament, which is March 12-18 at the Newport Beach Country Club. But Purser is used to the heavy schedule, and he and his staff have been getting ready well before the actual week ensues. He took time out of his busy schedule to answer five questions before the Toshiba Classic began. Question: What is the most unique feature from this 18th annual Toshiba Classic?

For Corey Pavin, it was a once-in-a-lifetime shot, but he's hoping the Allianz Championship won't be his once-in-a-lifetime victory on the Champions Tour. In 34 starts on the Champions Tour, Pavin had never won. But on the 35th, something magical happened. Some of that magic took place on the par-three 14th hole at Broken Sound Golf Club in Boca Raton, Fla. on Feb. 12. Pavin had an incredible par save. He turned around his eight-iron and hit left-handed for a chip shot. That was basically the only option Pavin had as there was a tree root to the left of the ball.

Hale Irwin is known as the only two-time champion of the Toshiba Classic. During the week of the 18th Toshiba Classic, he'll be known as keynote speaker at the annual Breakfast with a Champion, presented by the Allergan Foundation on March 13. The annual event, one of the highlights during the tournament, begins at 7 a.m. at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa. Tickets are $120 per seat. Tables are also available; contact the Toshiba Classic at (949) 660-1001 for more information.